Sinful Tendencies
by Hardcore74Leo
Summary: After the stealing the scroll Naruto is betrayed by Konoha. Follow Naruto as he journeys to obtain revenge on the village that shunned him. AU, Pairing undecided at this point. Rated M for Language and future content.
1. Sinful Seeds

Sinful Tendencies

Prologue: Sinful Seeds

A/N: This is an idea I have been kicking around for a long time. I have always enjoyed stories where Naruto leaves the village. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think of this story at all! Read and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any Anime/Manga that may make an appearance in the following piece of fanfiction. This work is strictly for my enjoyment, no attempts at making a financial gain from this story will be made. This is the only chapter I will put the disclaimer in.

Naruto laid there on the ground panting, covered in sweat. Near his feet lay a large scroll with a large amount of writing on it. He groaned as he sat up and looked around. "Man, Mizuki-sensei said he would be here by now." He said to himself. He looked at the scroll. "Maybe I could learn another awesome technique before he gets here." He unrolled it some more and saw a two strange seals, one was labeled a and the other was labeled b. The kanji above it read, 'Eien no Fuin'. Naruto looked for the description but there was none, just instructions to do it. "Draw seal A on object, place seal A over seal B and apply chakra."

Naruto pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen. "That doesn't sound to difficult. I wonder what this does." Naruto took the next couple of minutes tracing the seal on his paper. Satisfied with his work he pulled out a small box; opening he pulled out a small ink-well and a brush. Dipping the brush in the ink he applied it to the drawing and followed the design precisely. Once he was done he placed the palm of his hand on the seal and looked as the ink quickly dried. He compared the seal on his hand with the seal on the paper and nodded his head in satisfaction. "Not too shabby Naruto." He placed his hand on top of seal B and took a deep breath. "Here's to getting another awesome technique!" He cheered to himself as he applied chakra to the seal. He looked confused as nothing happened. "This jutsu must be broken." Naruto tried to pull his hand back but found it stuck. "What?" His question was answered as his arm was engulfed in a burning sensation. He closed his eyes and screamed, not noticing the scroll disappear in a cloud of smoke. The boy fell back and grasped his wrist looking at his palm; the seal on his hand was glowing bright red.

-(Unknown)-

"Quickly, send your men to retrieve the boy. He is going to ruin the whole operation." One man said to another. The other figure spoke in a whisper to a group of people behind them and they disappeared.

"You better hope this boy hasn't ruined this." The other man said as he walked away. "If that scroll is lost on a boy like him, this all falls on your head."

"Silence, I know what I am doing. A pathetic boy like him won't know what to do with the scroll anyways. No matter whether he is the child of a hokage or not. Especially because you will break him and get that scroll back." He walked after the man who had stopped.

"And why would I do something like that?" The first man kept walking.

"Because you will follow my orders as your leader." He looked back as he kept walking. "We have a situation to control, let's go Danzou." The man bowed mockingly behind the man.

"As you wish, Hokage-sama."

-(With Naruto)-

"Naruto!" A voice yelled. Naruto looked up as Iruka landed in the clearing. "Are you stupid?" He snapped at the boy.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto managed to cheer. "I learned a technique from the scroll, that means I get to be a ninja right?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" Iruka looked around the clearing. "Where is the scroll Naruto?"

"I don't know." He replied." I did this seal and my arm started burning. Next thing I know the scroll is gone!"

"What was the seal called?"

"It said something like Eien no Fuin." Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows what that means." Iruka smacked the boy on the back of the head.

"It means Eternal Seal you idiot!" He yelled. "You did a seal without knowing what it means or does? Why did you do that?"

"It looked cool!" He replied. "And I did it so I could become a ninja."

"Why would stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, leaving to the middle of nowhere, and learning a technique mean you get to become a ninja?"

"That's what Mizuki-sensei told me to do."

"Mizuki?" Iruka said. "Why would-" The question died in his throat as his head snapped towards the treeline. "Get down Naruto!" Iruka yelled as he shoved the boy to the ground. He crossed his arms in front of himself as a wave of shuriken hit him pushing him back slightly. A man's laughing came from the trees as Mizuki walked into the clearing.

"My oh my, lovely reflexes Iruka-san." He said clapping slowly. "You should have just let me kill the demon. I would have let you have some of the glory." He looked at Naruto. "You seem to have lost the scroll whelp. Where is it?"

"Don't answer him Naruto, Mizuki is a traitor to Konohagakure. He tricked you into stealing the scroll and meeting him. An act of a true coward; manipulating an innocent boys dreams and ambitions for your own gain." A loud laugh erupted from Mizuki.

"Innocent boy? You believe this…creature is an innocent boy?" Mizuki looked his old accomplice in the eyes. "Even after what it did to your family fifteen years ago?"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, so the beast wants to know the truth?"

"Don't do it Mizuki. You know it's against the law." Iruka said.

"I'm already breaking laws, what's one more matter?" Mizuki snarled at the man. "Fifteen years ago, our beloved Fourth Hokage, sacrificed himself to defeat the demon known as the Kyuubi. Oh but our history books lie to you, filling the children's minds with sweet fairytales, masking the horrible truth. A demon as strong as the Kyuubi can't be killed, there is only one way to defeat it."

"Stop Mizuki!" Iruka yelled.

"How is that?" Naruto asked quietly.

"You seal it into a child." Mizuki smiled sinisterly at the boy. "Have you ever wondered why your birthday coincides with the day the Kyuubi was defeated? Or why everyone calls you demon?" Naruto took a step away from the man. "It's because you were the child the demon was sealed into. You are the Kyuubi!" Tears came to Naruto's eyes as he ran from the clearing. Mizuki went to chase after him but was stopped by a fist impacting with his jaw. He was sent rolling and quickly came to his feet looking at Iruka. "You defend the creature?" Naruto listened from within a large cluster of trees and bushes on the outskirts of the clears. "After the demon killed you parents, killed your sister, and even killed your lover; you defend it?"

"You're right, the demon killed my parents. The demon killed my sister Hiroki, and it even killed my one true love, Kiga. I have been filled with such hatred and anger towards Naruto, just like the rest of the villagers." More tears came to the boys eyes as he was listening to the man's words. "Fifteen years ago my life was torn to shreds by the demon's attack, but that's not Naruto's fault." The boy looked up from the bushes at the man. "Naruto was dealt a terrible hand, he was given an unimaginable burden. He was tasked with protecting Konohagakure and the rest of the world from a demon of unimaginable power. It took me too long to realize that Naruto is not the Kyuubi; he is a member of Konohagakure and a regular boy. So you ask if I defend the demon, my answer is no. I defend Uzumaki Naruto, my student and a person I hold dear to my heart." Mizuki snarled at the man again.

"You disgust me Iruka." Mizuki said as he pulled out a kunai. "I wasn't planning on killing you, but now I feel I must." Iruka responded by pulling out a kunai of his own.

"Mizuki, for your traitorous actions towards the great village of Konohagakure and the attempted murder of a Chuunin and a civilian, you are under arrest. Any attempts to resist will be met with lethal force." Iruka's response was a smirk as Mizuki rushed the man.

Iruka ducked under a slash aimed for his eyes. Iruka drove his elbow into Mizuki's stomach than swung upwards with his kunai. Mizuki evaded the attack by kicking the man in the chest and away from him. He threw another handful of shuriken at Iruka who rolled out of the way. When he came to his feet a knee impacted with his nose with turned into a torrent of blood. Iruka responded by driving his kunai underneath Mizuki's kneecap as he was falling back. Mizuki crumpled to the ground holding his leg. "Mother fucker!" He yelled out. He grimaced as he pulled the kunai out of his leg. He slowly pulled himself up onto one leg and tried putting pressure onto the other. He let out a growl of pain as he glared at the man in front of him and started running through hand seals. "You should have left it alone Iruka. Katon: Honō no bāsuto!" A small ball of fire shot from Mizuki's mouth and hit the Chuunin in the chest. On impact it exploded in dramatic fashion. Mizuki's smile disappeared as pieces of a charred log hit the ground and a sound of crackling electricity was heard from behind him.

"I never turn my back on comrades. Raiton: Dendō bōru!" Iruka yelled as he slammed a ball of electricity between Mizuki's shoulder blades. The man's screams died in his throat as his eyes glazed over and his corpse fell to the floor. Iruka stumbled and fell on his backside as he gripped his nose. "Son of a bitch, that hurt." An orange blur burst out of the foliage and tackled the teacher. "Naruto?!" He yelled in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright Iruka-sensei. The better question is, are you okay?" Iruka smiled at the boy.

"Yeah I'm okay, nothing I can't handle." Naruto returned the smile. The smiles of the two disappeared as they were surrounded by four figures wearing masks. "What is this?"

"Six months." A voice said from the tree line. "A six month investigation, ruined in fifteen minutes by a lousy chuunin and a brat." Two elderly men walked into the clearing.

"Jiji-san!" Naruto yelled to the man. He tried to run towards the man but was backhanded by one of the figures.

"And now, the scroll containing the strongest techniques in all the lands, is bound to a useless demon container." The Hokage said. Naruto and Iruka's eyes widened.

"If you had given him to me in the first place we wouldn't be stuck in this situation Hiruzen." The other person said. Hiruzen glared at the man.

"What have I told you about questioning me Danzou?" Danzou scoffed and looked away. Hiruzen looked at Naruto and Iruka as they stood up. "For six months we were working an investigation involving Mizuki. He was going to lead us to the traitor Orochimaru."

"Hokage-sama, I am very sorry." Iruka replied. "He attempted to kill Naruto and myself, I was merely defending myself."

"The damage has already been done." Hiruzen told the man. "Danzou." Danzou signaled with his good arm and Naruto was grabbed by one of the figures. "You get your wish, Naruto is yours now." Danzou smirked at this.

"I will turn him into the greatest weapon the shinobi world has ever known."

"You can't do that Hokage-sama." Iruka said. "I will bring this before the council." Iruka was grabbed by two of the remaining figures.

"You should have never gotten involved Iruka-san." Iruka was forced to his knees as the last figure walked around to the front of him. "You were an exceptional teacher and your loyalty to the village knew no bounds." The figure withdrew a sword and he rested it on Iruka's neck. "You will be placed on the memorial stone, a victim of murder by the traitorous ninja, Mizuki." The figure raised the sword above his head and Iruka looked at Naruto with tears in his eyes.

"Run Naruto, run and never look back." Tears came to Naruto's eyes as the figure counted to three. "I'm proud of you Otōto." The sword was brought down swiftly separating Iruka's head from the rest of his body. Naruto looked on in shock as they dropped his mentors body.

"Otōto, how cute." Danzou said mockingly. "Now, let's see about getting you that scroll back Hiruzen." The man nodded and looked at Naruto.

"Just remember not to kill him. If he dies the scroll is lost forever. You will go with Danzou and learn under him." He told the boy. Naruto looked at the Hokage for a long time.

"No." He replied.

"You dare disobey me boy?" He snarled at the boy.

"For so long, I looked up to you like a grandfather. A man I strived to be like and wish to make proud." Naruto said. "I wanted to protect this village and the virtues it stood for." Chakra started swirling around the boy. "Now…well now I just want to watch the village and the lies it was built on burn to the ground. Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" With an eruption of chakra thousands of Naruto clones appeared. The force of the chakra separated Naruto and the figure. "Scatter!" All the clones yelled. Within seconds all of the clones had vacated the area.

"This is all your fault Sarutobi." Danzou scowled. "Now we have made an enemy of the Jinchūriki to the strongest demon in all the nations." Hiruzen sent a large pulse of chakra and within seconds dozens of ANBU arrived in the clearing.

"My dear ANBU, two of our chuunin have been murdered and the culprit has escaped. You are to find and catch the suspect alive so that he may face trial. Bring me Uzumaki Naruto." No words were said as the shinobi left the clearing just as swiftly as they arrived. "We will break him Danzou, and Konohagakure will rule as the other nations kneel." Danzou looked at the figures.

"Get the rest of ROOT and go after Uzumaki." They nodded and disappeared quickly. "Now I need to help clean up your mess." The two men left the clearing and the bodies of the two chuunin in silence.

-(With Naruto)-

Naruto ran like his life depended on it, which it did. He was gasping for breath and looked behind him as he saw a group of three people chasing after him, wearing masks similar to the ones from the people who killed Iruka. He shook the tears out of his eyes as he kept moving. 'No use in those kinds of thoughts right now. You have to survive.' He told himself. He landed in a clearing and made a cross seal with his hands. Before he could initiate the jutsu the three people landed in front of him. One of the figures removed his masks revealing a covered eye and silver hair.

"Naruto, come with us back to the village. Don't do this to yourself please." The man pleaded to the boy.

"Kakashi-san, I can't go with you." Naruto said looking back. "I appreciate you looking out for me all those years, it meant a lot, but I can't go back after what Ji-, I mean the Hokage has done to me." Kakashi looked confused. "Kage Bunshin!" Fifteen clones appeared in a mass around Naruto and without a word they all left the clearing. Kakashi slammed his mask on the ground shattering it and pulling up the headband off of his eye.

"Let's go." He ordered as the two figures behind him followed as they chased after what Kakashi hoped was the son of his teacher. For hours Naruto ran from the ANBU. He escaped close calls through the use of his massive chakra pool and his Kage Bunshin. After all the running he finally collapses against a tree.

"I…can't…keep going." He gasped out to himself. He looked up grimly as eight figures quickly surrounded him.

"Halt, by order of the Sandaime Hokage, you are here-by under arrest for the murders of Hyōjun Mizuki and Umino Iruka." Naruto let out a sad laugh at the information. "Comply and come back with us…demon." Before Naruto could respond a sinister laugh came from all around them. "Who goes there?" The person demanded.

"You call a boy like that a demon?" The voice responded. A heavy mist slowly started to roll into the area. "Allow me to show you what a real demon is like." The mist fully engulfed everyone and Naruto curled up into a ball as the screams started. Only thirty seconds passed, but it felt like a life time to the boy. The blood curdling screams, grown men crying, others begging for their lives. Eventually all that stopped and there was silence. Naruto opened his eyes and the mist was still there. There was a faint sound of footsteps walking towards him. The boy scampered backwards until his back hit the tree. The steps grew louder as the person got closer and an outline of a large man appeared in the mist. He stopped in front of Naruto and the mist started to dissipate. Naruto's eyes widened as a large man holding a sword as large as himself stood there covered in blood. "It's been a while since I last had fun." He said from behind the bandages around his mouth. He looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow. "Now, why would two squads of ANBU be after a mere boy?" Naruto shivered in fear at the man. "Answer me boy." He ordered.

Naruto gulped before speaking. "I stole the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing from Konoha." The man's other eyebrow joined its brother in being raised. Naruto let out a scream as the man slammed his sword into the tree next to the boy and he was grabbed by the collar of his orange jumpsuit.

"Give me the scroll boy, and I will let you leave with your life." He demanded.

"That's the thing, I can't give it to you." Naruto stuttered out.

"And why not?"

"There was this cool looking seal in the scroll and I copied it. Well, it for some reason bound the scroll to me for life. If I die the scroll is destroyed also." The man growled at him before dropping him. He picked up his sword and turned to walk away. "Wait!" Naruto shouted out. The man stopped and looked at the boy. "How about we work out a trade?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto ran to the man.

"Take me with you and train me for a while. I can tell you're an awesome ninja, and I'm out here all by myself." The man laughed at Naruto.

"And why would I train a runt like yourself?"

"I'll give you access to the scroll so you can learn whatever you want from it." He stopped and thought for a while.

"I accept." Before Naruto could cheer the man stopped him. "But I am altering the deal." Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "I will evaluate and slightly train you for a week. If at the end of the week I decide not to continue training you, you will be sent on your way. The week of training you will receive from me should be enough to keep you alive for a while."

"Deal!" Naruto cheered extending his hand to the man.

"And at the end of the week, whether I continue training you or not, I get one jutsu from that scroll of yours." He replied shaking Naruto's hand. "When I am training you, you will do everything I instruct you to do. No objections, no stupid questions. Just follow my instructions.

"You got it sensei." Naruto said.

"Don't call me that runt, the name's Zabuza."

-(10 P.M. In Konoha)-

Hiruzen stood on the balcony of the Hokage Tower as his shinobi forces gathered around him. The village council stood behind him as he addressed the village. "My friends, today is a dark day in the history of Konohagakure. Today…two of our exceptional Chuunin were murdered by a student who went rogue. They perished in their valiant effort to stop and capture the student after they stole the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing." The crowd of shinobi gasped out loud as villagers started to trickle into the group.

"Who were these brave shinobi?" A voice called from the group.

"The two shinobi were none other than Hyōjun Mizuki and Umino Iruka, two of the very teachers that trained the boy." Hiruzen replied.

"Who is the scoundrel that committed this heinous crime?" Another voice asked.

"It was a boy we are all familiar with. It was Uzumaki Naruto!" Hiruzen said. The entire crowd gasped and there were immediately angry calls for the boys head. Hiruzen outstretched his hands and hushed the crowd. "We have already dispatch our ANBU forces to retrieve the boy. We have also issued an order to place him in the Bingo Book. While he was not officially a shinobi, his skills have deemed it necessary. I ask you all to go home and rest easy, your village will protect you and stop him before he can unnecessarily harm anyone else." The crowd in front of the tower started leaving the area whispering to one another. Hiruzen turned around and walked into the tower signaling for the council to follow him. Once everyone had taken their seats Hyuuga Hiashi stood up and asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Sarutobi, what exactly is going on?" Hiruzen rubbed his temples from his seat.

"It is as I have said. Naruto has stolen the Forbidden Scroll and killed two Chuunin during his escape."

"How could this be?" Hiashi asked. "Isn't the scroll under the strictest surveillance out of the entire village?"

"It appears that he chose his moment to infiltrate very carefully. He snuck in and out within the three minutes it takes ANBU to switch squads." He replied.

"That would take exceptional planning." Nara Shikaku spoke up. "You don't suspect he had…inside help do you?"

"The seal has shown no signs of damage or weakness." Sarutobi said. "He seems to have acted completely on his own." Nara frowned at the explanation as he glanced at his two friends. "That is not the most troubling news though."

"What would the troubling news be?" Inuzuka Tsume asked.

"He now views the village as an enemy and he wishes to destroy it." The council room erupted into chaos. He allowed this to go on for a couple minutes before he silenced the group. "As I said out there, we have already dispatch our best ANBU squads after the boy. He will be returned and sent to a rehabilitation project. While he is just a boy, his status as a Jinchūriki is important to the village. Until the time he is brought in, he has simply been labeled a Genin with a C-class bounty on his head in the bingo book." Hiruzen stood up from his chair. "I called this meeting merely to inform you of this latest event. It's late, any questions you have will be addressed tomorrow morning." With that the council was dismissed and everyone left. Danzou appeared out of the shadows behind Hiruzen and his advisors.

"A ROOT squad has returned with strange news."

"Report." Hiruzen demanded.

"Two squads of ANBU were found dead south of here."

"How did a boy manage to kill two ANBU squads?"

"It appears they were killed by a large bladed weapon." Hiruzen looked confused at this information. "The squads were found a couple hours away from the border of Kirigakure." Recognition dawned on Hiruzen's face.

"Let's hope this is a random occurrence and he has no affiliation with Naruto. Getting Naruto out of the care of a man like Zabuza could prove troublesome. Especially if Zabuza finds out Naruto has the scroll."

"Let's hope you're correct Hiruzen." Danzou said as he walked away. "I will keep you informed of any updates that come in."

Hiruzen left his advisors and went to his office. He stood there looking at pictures of the past Hokage's before pausing on one of a blonde haired man. "You had to put me back in this position didn't you Minato?" He said to no one. "And now you're spawn is raising hell." He shook his head and turned away from the picture. "You should have listened to me and used a random orphan that we could control." With that said Hiruzen cut the lights to the room.

Original Jutsu:

Honō no bāsuto- Burst of Flame

Eien no Fuin- Eternal Seal

Dendō bōru- Electirc Ball

A/N: And there is the prologue to a new story I'm working on! There's not much but also a whole lot going on in this chapter I believe. Well I hope you enjoyed the read, let me know what you think of this in a review if you like! And if anyone is curious as to the progress of my other story, XNinja, I have chapters written, they just need to be gone over. So a new chapter will be coming out within the next couple of weeks. But as usual, review if you wish! I am always grateful for some constructive criticism and ideas people have!


	2. Nurturing the Seeds

Sinful Tendencies

Chapter 1: Nurturing the Seeds

A/N: Well, the feedback I got from the Prologue was surprising for me. I started this story just for the hell of it really. But I am feeling the grove so I am going to run with it and keep writing for this story. Something I forgot to mention in the previous chapter was that graduation age is set for 15 years old. I know it's around 13 in canon, but that's why this is AU. Now, here is the first actual chapter. Enjoy!

-(With Naruto, 2 Hours Prior to Hokage's Announcement)-

Naruto followed Zabuza as they sped through the trees. After travelling for an hour or so they arrived at the bottom of a rock face. Looking around Zabuza slipped into a crack with Naruto following him again. They came out of the crack into a large cave with various supplies in it. There were four sleeping mats distributed around the cave. In different spots were cooking supplies, weapons, a table, and some scrolls. Naruto froze as he felt cold metal on his neck. "Who are you?" A voice asked.

Zabuza chuckled at the person. "Remove the blade Haku, the runt is with me.' Naruto let out a sigh of relief as the kunai was removed.

"My apologies." Haku said as Naruto turned around. "It's not often that Zabuza brings people to our hide-out."

"That's no problem. He saved me and is even going to train me for a bit." Naruto extended his hand. "The name is Uzumaki Naruto."

Returning the hand shake Haku replied, "The name's Haku."

"Alright brat, here's a sleeping mat." Zabuza said tossing the mat to the boy. "As we aren't supplied to have another mouth to feed, you are on your own for food for the week until we resupply." Naruto nodded his head. "You will also carry your own weight around here with work. We aren't going to baby you." Naruto set up his mat as Zabuza kept talking. "Tomorrow I will see what you can do and what I need to teach you, we start at 6 in the morning. So be up and ready by then, I am not going to go easy on you."

"Where are the brothers Zabuza-san?" Haku asked.

"I sent them after a couple of low level bounties to help get us some money." Zabuza replied as he took his spot on a mat. "I'm getting some sleep, I would suggest you do the same runt." With that said Zabuza turned over onto his side leaving the two to talk.

"So how did you end up with Zabuza?" Naruto asked. Haku gave him a look and took his place on a mat close to Zabuza.

"Forgive my curtness, but I will save all pleasantries for once I know you better." Haku replied as he laid down. Naruto sighed as he sat on his mat in silence.

"Great call leaving the village." Naruto said to himself as he laid down. "They will pay, for Iruka-sensei." Naruto turned to his side and closed his eyes and across the room Zabuza did the same.

-(Konoha, after Council Meeting)-

Shikaku arrived home and sighed as he saw his wife standing there. "Not now dear, it's far to troublesome to argue right now." She stepped to the side and Shikamaru was standing there. "What's this about?"

"What's going on with Naruto?" His son asked. Shikaku let out a deep breath and rubbed his temples.

"So much for getting some decent sleep." He said to himself. He signaled for Shikamaru to follow him as he went to his study. The two sat down in chairs across from each other at a table; on the table sat a board and multiple black or white pieces. "What have you heard?" Shikaku asked as he moved his black piece.

"I have heard all kinds of things." Shikamaru replied as he moved a white piece. Shikaku moved another one of his pieces. "I have heard all throughout the academy that Naruto was a monster. I heard today that he stole a forbidden scroll, killed two chuunin, and escaped the village. I have heard the curses directed to him by other villagers." Multiple pieces had been moved at this point in the game.

"How do these pieces of information affect you?"

"They don't." Shikamaru said. "From what I have gathered is that the generations of shinobi before mine harbor a strange hatred for Naruto, but they have never been around him like I have." Shikaku looked curiously at his son as he made another move. "Naruto is an idiot." Shikamaru thought carefully before moving a piece. "There is no way that he killed two chuunin level shinobi by himself. He can't even do a basic Bunshin jutsu properly. Something doesn't add up. He was always yelling how much he loved his village and how he would become Hokage to protect everyone." Shikaku smirked as they entered the final stage of their game. "There are only two possible scenarios in my mind to cause Naruto to leave."

"What would those be?"

"Either he has been framed for crimes he didn't commit." Shikamaru moved the last of his pieces. "Or he is being influenced by the Kyuubi." Shikaku froze at Shikamaru's statement.

"How do you know of this? That is supposed to be a secret." Shikaku said.

"Please, I am your son." Shikamaru replied. "I figured it out about a year ago with Chouji. We set out to find out why Naruto was hated. We just listened to a couple of drunk Jounin mention something about Kyuubi, October 13th, Yondaime, and Naruto. So I did some digging and found some things I thought interesting. It's common knowledge that the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi on October 13th fifteen years ago. What isn't common knowledge though, is Naruto's birthday, which just so happens to coincide with the exact day the Kyuubi was defeated, October 13th. That, plus the attacks that seem to happen against Naruto every 13th of October, most everyone's nicknames for Naruto, and his whisker marks solved the question for me. Naruto is the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi." Shikaku sat back with a blank look on his face. Shikamaru continued, "Given the fact that the chakra of the Kyuubi would be very easy to distinguish and sense, I don't believe he was under the Kyuubi's influence tonight. I think there is something strange going on in the village involving Naruto."

"Keen observation skills you have there Shikamaru." Shikaku said looking at the board.

"They are troublesome to have. Sometimes I wish I could just be simple-minded and accepting of how things happen." He frowned as his father made his last move. "Seems I still can't defeat you."

"Hold onto your skills Shikamaru. They are one-of-a-kind." Shikaku stood up and walked to the door of his study.

"What are your thoughts on the Naruto situation?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know what is going on behind the curtains son." Shikaku opened the door and looked back at Shikamaru. "My loyalty is to the village, but my loyalty is not blind." Shikamaru rose a confused eyebrow. "We are still a shinobi village, and as a shinobi, we should question everything." With that said Shikaku left his son alone in the study.

"Troublesome father." Shikamaru said to himself. "He knows I won't stop until I know the answer." He stood up and frowned at the board. "Looks like Chouji and myself have some work to do."

-(The Next Day)-

Naruto awoke early and noticed the other two occupants of the cave were gone. He walked outside and did some quick stretches before looking around. He spotted Zabuza setting up some different pieces of equipment in a dirt area next to the cave. "Hey Zabuza-san!" Naruto said walking over to the man.

"I'm surprised runt, you're up an hour before your training. I was expecting a pampered little boy from Konoha to sleep in." Naruto frowned at the man. "There is some leftover food on the table over there, help yourself to breakfast." Naruto looked over at the table and saw a couple pieces of fruit and a piece of meat. He jogged over and his stomach let out a loud growl as he looked at the food. He shoveled the food down and smiled.

"I didn't realize how hungry I was."

"If you're still hungry, there are some fruit trees around here." Haku said walking out of the surrounding forest.

"Hurry up brat, the sooner we get this evaluation done, the sooner I can decide if you're worth it." Zabuza said as he started running through some katas with his sword. Naruto nodded and walked out into the forest and started looking around. He walked for five minutes and came to a tree with low hanging peaches. Picking a couple he ate them quickly and grabbed an armful more. He walked back to the cave and set the peaches on the table.

"Ah, you found the peach tree. They are delicious aren't they?" Haku asked.

"The best ones I have ever had."

"Enough yapping boy. Get over here." Zabuza snapped slamming his sword into the ground. Running over to the man Naruto stood at attention. "Alright, there are a couple of things I want to find out before we get started. First, how much weight can you lift?"

"Um, I don't know. They never had us do exercises like that in the academy."

"Is that a joke?" Zabuza asked. Naruto shook his head no. "Fucking Kami. What about chakra control exercises? Do you know how to do water walking?" Naruto looked at the man confusedly.

"The only chakra control exercise I know is the leaf sticking one."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Zabuza snapped. "How the hell does Konoha have the strongest military if they aren't teaching their shinobi jack shit." He looked at the boy. "Tell me you know some useful techniques at least."

"Well, I know Kawarimi, my Henge is really good, and I know the Kage Bunshin." Zabuza picked his head up at the last piece of information.

"So, they teach students the Kage Bunshin in the academy?"

"Well no, it's a technique I learned from the scroll."

"Do you know what it does?" Zabuza asked dreading the answer.

"Yeah, it makes this super awesome clone that can punch and kick people." Naruto put his hand on his chin. "And I think that's it." Zabuza kicked the boy in the chest and sent him bouncing across the ground.

"You have to be pulling my damn leg now. There is no way you are stupid enough to learn a technique without knowing what it does." Naruto groaned and pulled himself off the ground.

"What does it do?" Naruto asked rubbing his chest.

"Create one and have it come to me." Zabuza instructed. Naruto concentrated and created five clones. "I told you to only make one."

"I tried to only make on." Naruto replied. One of the clones walked over to zabuza and he told the clone something. "What now?" Pulling out a kunai, Zabuza slammed it into the clones forehead, destroying it. A couple seconds passed and Naruto and all the clones shouted at Zabuza, "Hey, I'm not a fucking moron!"

"How is it that you know what I told your clone?" Zabuza asked smirking under the bandages.

"I don't know. I just remember what you told him some how." Naruto replied. A look of realization dawned on his face. "Wait a second, I remember now. When I read the description it said that the kage bunshin was created as a recon technique. It's so the user can find out information about an area without putting himself in danger."

"Well now, you aren't as stupid as you look." Zabuza told him. "Now I know how I am going to train you this week."

"Awesome!" Naruto said smiling. "When can we start?"

"We will start once you quit lying to me." Naruto looked at the man confusedly. "I'm going to ask you this question again, and im going to only ask it once. If you dont cut the bullshit and give me the truth, you can just go on your way and leave."

"What's your question?"

"Why did you leave Konoha?" Naruto looked at the floor quietly. "You can take however long you like to answer the question, it just better not be a lie." A couple minutes passed before naruto replied.

"They took everything from me." He said quietly. "The Hokage betrayed me and took my most important person out of my life. The village took away my childhood, for fifteen years I have been made fun of, beat up, and starved for something im not in control of. The bastards wanted to control me and turn me into a weapon."

"What aren't you telling me boy?" Naruto let out a sad chuckle.

"I contain a monster. I'm a jail for one of the most powerful beasts in the world."

"You're the Jinchūriki for the Kyuubi arent you?" Naruto nodded his head. Zabuza smiled underneath his bandages. "Tell me, what do you want most to gain from my training?" Naruto looked up at the man with hardened eyes.

"I want to become powerful. I want to get stronger so that i can watch konoha burn to the ground for what they did to me." If possible Zabuza's smile got wider.

"You understand that this week is going to be the most grueling and taxing week you have ever experienced?" Naruto nodded. "You will do everything I instruct, no complaints and you will complete them fully." Naruto nodded his head again. "You have one week to impress me."

"Well than, what are we waiting for?"

"Create around one hundred clones." Naruto concentrated and created a mass of clones. " good thing we are working on your control. I count roughly almost two hundred clones. Alright all of you, seperate into groups on fifteen." It took a couple of minutes to get the clones organized but eventually there were thirteen groups of clones with eight left over. "Haku!" Zabuza shouted. Within seconds Haku arrived in the clearing.

"Yes Zabuza-san?"

"Take these eight clones in the forest and teach them basic survival techniques. Hunting, gathering, things like that."

"As you wish. Follow me please." Haku led the clones off into the forest.

"Alright you clones, I want eight of you groups to go collect leaves. You will all work on the leaf chakra exercise you know, but you will up the number of leaves from one to ten. Go collect the leaves now and do it quickly." The groups did as instructed and while they were doing so zabuza addressed the remaining groups. "Alright, youre going to be working on a chakra control exercise called tree walking. It's simple, you apply chakra to your feet and try to stick yourself to the tree. To much and you get blasted off the tree, to little and you slide of." Zabuza demonstrated the exercise to them. "Get to work." He finally gave naruto an exercise to do. "Alright kid, we need to figure out what you can lift." Naruto followed Zabuza as he walked to an area with a metal bar and a bench. "This is a chakra weight, we will use this to find out, lay on your back on the bench." Naruto did as told and Zabuza picked up the bar setting it in naruto's palms on his chest. "Alright, this is twenty kilograms. I want you to do bench press it five times. Every time you complete five reps, I will up the weight by eleven kilograms. We will do this until we max you out at what you can press." Naruto quickly did the five reps with the twenty. Adding chakra to the bar Zabuza increased the weight. This went on until the weight was sixty-eight kilograms. Naruto was able to lift it four times before he could go no longer. Zabuza grunted as he grabbed the bar from the boy and set it on the ground. "Not bad for a civilian." Naruto frowned at the statement.

"Can't we just have the clones do this also to help speed it up?" Naruto asked.

"Unfortunately not. When a clone is dispersed it only retains memory and muscle memory. No physical benefits are passed onto you." Zabuza replied as he signaled Naruto to get off the bench. "Your clones will handle all chakra exercises and you will do all the weight lifting." He smiled at the boy and sent a chill up his spine. "And with your healing abilities of the Kyuubi, you can be pushed a lot harder than a normal person. That, plus your abilities with the Kage Bunshin, we can get a months' worth of training in this week. Sit down." He told the boy. Naruto did so and Zabuza handed him a metal disc. "This is another chakra weight. It's set for nine kilograms, I want you to do five hundred sit-ups while holding it on your chest." Naruto made to complain but Zabuza glared at the boy. Naruto begrudgingly started to do his sit-ups. Forty-five minutes later he had finished, completely exhausted.

"What…next?" Naruto asked.

"You get a fifteen minute break while I go and dispel some of your clones." Zabuza replied. "I'm going to dispel a group every five minutes, so you might want to brace yourself." Zabuza walked over to the clones that were working on the leaf exercise. He observed the groups before making his decision. "Groups four, seven, and eight come here." The three groups stopped what they were doing and came over to the man. "You three appear to be making the most progress with the task, you all can hold at least 3 leaves onto yourself with no difficulty. Group four, I want all of you to dispel yourselves." They all did as told and Zabuza coughed waving the smoke out of his face. "Seven, I want you to wait five minutes and then do the same; eight, you are to do the same five minutes after seven." The two groups nodded in agreement and Zabuza went back over to Naruto.

"It looks like the clones have a good idea of what they are doing."

"They are picking it up." Zabuza replied to Naruto. "With the progress they are making, when they dispel it passes the knowledge on to all of the other clones." Zabuza picked up a vest and the disk laying next to Naruto. He put the disk in an opening on the vest and dropped it on the ground next to Naruto. "Once the last group is done dispelling, you are to put that vest on and do five hundred push-ups." Naruto continued resting for the next ten minutes. He eventually stood up and put the vest on. "To help work on your focus I'm going to dispel two groups of clones randomly while you are doing your push-ups." Zabuza walked over to the clones working on the tree climbing exercise and observed them for fifteen minutes. "Eleven come here." The group stopped what they were doing and walked over to the man. Zabuza kept his eyes on Naruto, "I want you all to dispel now." They did as told and Naruto stumbled in the middle of his push-ups. "Focus boy!" Zabuza yelled to him. Starting again Zabuza watched the clones for twenty-five minutes. "Ten, you're turn." He watched Naruto again as the clones dispelled themselves. Naruto paused for a couple seconds before continuing. Zabuza walked over to a group of clones working on the leaf exercise. "One, I want you to dispel." They looked confusedly at the man but did as told. Still watching Naruto the boy didn't pause this time in his push-ups. He continued doing push-ups for five minutes before collapsing.

"Five…hundred…done." Naruto gasped out. Zabuza walked over to the boy and looked at him. "Is…it…lunch…yet?"

"Just one more exercise." Naruto groaned as he slowly stood up. "Take off the vest." He let out a sigh of relief as the vest hit the ground. "Don't be too happy yet runt." Zabuza said as he cracked his knuckles. "We are going to see what you know in the fighting department." He took a stance and Naruto took his own. The next five minutes were the longest, most painful minutes of Naruto's life. "I'm going to dispel some more groups for you. Just lay there and rest." Naruto lifted his head off the ground and manage to give Zabuza a middle finger. After dispelling the groups Zabuza let out a sharp whistle. Minutes later Haku arrived in the clearing with the clones that were accompanying him. "What's for lunch?"

"The boy happens to be a natural for survival skills. A couple of clones managed to snag a deer while the others found some vegetables and fruits." Haku replied handing him a scroll. "How is the training over here?"

"It's going decent enough." Zabuza said. He unsealed all of the findings in the scroll and nodded his head in approval. "You clones can dispel yourselves now." The ones who were with Haku disappeared. "Get up boy." Slowly Naruto managed to make his way to his feet. "You get to learn how to cook now." As Naruto walked over to Zabuza the man turned to address the rest of the clones. "You all can dispel yourselves in five minute intervals. Start with group two and go in numerical order." After the three had cooked the food and sat down to eat Naruto asked a question.

"How is a ninja as strong as you not affiliated with a village?" Zabuza looked at the boy as he pulled the bandages away from his mouth.

"I have my reasons." He replied as he took a large bite out of a piece of deer. "Let's just say that Konoha isn't the only village with its dirty secrets." He looked over at Haku. "If you make it through the end of the week I will tell you a bit of my history." Zabuza finished his food and stood up grabbing his sword. "Take your time finishing your food. We will continue your training in another hour." Zabuza walked off and went to the weight bar Naruto had used earlier and started lifting the weight after increasing it.

"You two are sealed up tighter than a bottle." Naruto said to Haku.

"We will know within the week if you are trust worthy. Zabuza-san doesn't tell his past to those he doesn't trust." Haku replied taking a bite of a piece of an apple. Haku stood up taking another apple. "If Zabuza-san tells you his story, I will tell you mine as well."

"Is there any way for me to prove myself other than in the exercises he gives me?"

"I would suggest being pro-active in your training. He said you will start training again in an hour. Don't do any physical training, try some mental training." Haku replied. Walking off, Haku sat down near Zabuza eating his apple.

"Let's see, pro-active." Naruto said to himself. He put his chin in the palm of his hand and thought. Naruto's eyes lit up and he looked at his palm seeing the seal. "I got it." He put his palm on the table and used some chakra. In a puff of smoke the enormous scroll appeared on the table. "Might as well see what is in this thing." He picked it up and took a seat under a shaded tree. He unrolled the entire thing and it was fifteen feet long by ten feet wide. Naruto let out a whistle at all the seals in it. "And to think, I only unrolled this thing two feet." The first four feet of the scroll contained descriptions of various techniques. The Kage Bunshin and the Eien no Fuin were there, along with other powerful moves. Naruto shook his head as he read the descriptions. "There is no way I can learn those yet. I should have realized Mizuki was tricking me, there should have been no way for me to learn anything from this."

He kept looking down the scroll and came to various sets of containment seals. There was a seal that was labeled "Library" and another that said "Strategy". The next three feet were separated into six sections with four sub-categories. Each section correlated with a different element; Katon, Suiton, Raiton, Doton, Futon, and Medic with the sub-categories divided by class; C, B, A, and S class jutsu. The next foot of scroll was labeled Fuinjutsu with five sub-categories; Novice, Apprentice, Advanced, Expert, and Master. The next two feet of the scroll was labeled, "Known Blood-lines." It was divided into many individual seals each labeled by a village and one that said unknown. The next four feet was various seals divided into village sections again with sub-categories of history and notable shinobi. Looking over the scroll again Naruto frowned. "For a Forbidden Scroll there's not a whole lot of forbidden stuff in it other than those first techniques. Naruto went to roll it up but something in the corner stopped him. There was a tiny seal in the corner with no label. He put some chakra into the seal and three scrolls popped out. The first was labeled, "Village Secrets". The second was, "Secrets of other Nations". And the last was labeled, "Black-Op Missions". Naruto went to open one but something stopped him. He couldn't explain it but he put the scrolls back on the seal and sealed them away.

"Why didn't you read those boy?" Zabuza asked. Naruto looked up at the man.

"I don't know, I just feel like I'm not ready to know what's in there." Naruto replied. He went up to the strategy seal and unsealed it. Eight much smaller scrolls, four books, and three thick books came out. Naruto concentrated and created seven clones frowning. "Damn, I only wanted to make two clones." He picked up two of the scrolls and handed them to two of the clones. "You guys take those and read them." He dispelled the rest of the clones and set one of the books to the side and sealed the rest of the strategy contents away. He rolled the Forbidden Scroll up and sealed it back in his hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I figured I would learn a bit of strategy before we get back to training." Zabuza let out a grunt at the boys response and walked away. "Huh, I have never heard of Sun Tzu." Naruto said looking at the book. He leaned back and started reading the book. Half an hour passed and Zabuza came back to him.

"Ready to get back to work?" Naruto closed the book and set it on the table they ate their breakfast at.

"Let's get back to work."

"How are you feeing?" Zabuza asked.

"Strangely enough, I'm a bit tired, but I'm not all that sore." Naruto replied.

"Good, the healing abilities of the Kyuubi are much better than I expected." He tossed the vest from earlier to Naruto. "I doubled the weight on this, I want you to do five hundred squats." Zabuza then pointed over to a tree. Once you are done with the squats you are to go do two hundred pull ups." Naruto's jaw dropped at the man. "I dont care how long it takes you, just get it done. If you finish in a respectable amount of time I might start teaching you how to fight." Naruto steeled himself and walked over to the tree Zabuza pointed at and started doing the squats.

"You're being awful harsh on him with the workout." Haku said from next to him. "You were never this hard on me."

"You don't have a millenia old demon sealed inside you to accelerate the process." Zabuza replied. "I'm going to turn him into a machine. Between you and him I will have the ultimate tools to take Kiri back."

"What if he doesnt want to help with Kiri?" Haku asked.

"He has become angry towards Konoha. And once I tell him my story, and you tell him yours, he will hold a negative opinion of Kiri; and possibly towards all hidden villages."

"Are you going to tell him the truth?"

"Yes I am. If he gets as powerful as I suspect he can, than getting on his bad side will be something to avoid." Zabuza told him. "He has already impressed me with his drive to get stronger. Let's just see if he can keep it up for the next week, especially once I ramp up the work-out." It took Naruto a two and a half hours, but he finally finished the exercises. He slowly hobbled over to where Zabuza was standing. "Alright runt, make thirty clones." Naruto did the Kage Bunshin and eight clones appeared.

"Damnit, I still cant get it right." Naruto said.

"Dont worry, it will come with time. I want fifty of you to dispel." After the clones did as instructed Zabuza continued, "I want you to go with Haku, he is going to show you some stretches and some first aid training." Naruto followed Haku into the cave and Zabuza addressed the clones. "We are going to develop some fighting skill in you all."

"Alright Naruto, I'm just going to go over some basic stretches with you. You're going to want to do these stretches before you do these work-outs, during lunch, and when you are done for the day. I know the Kyuubi heals you pretty quickly, but doing this will prevent you from pulling a muscle or straining your back. An added benefit is that stretching can increase your flexibility and maneuverability in battle." Haku spent the next hour going over the stretches and walking Naruto through them. "How do you feel now?"

"I actually feel pretty good." Naruto replied.

"Good, now we will be teaching you first aid. While not applicable to you, you may need to perform some first aid on someone else." Haku told him. Haku walked over to a table with some scrolls on it and picked up two. "Make a clone, you two are going to read these scrolls and in about two hours we will put into practice what you have learned. Male sure you have a good grasp of what you are reading." Haku left the boy and his clone alone as he went outside to Zabuza.

"I have to do what they want me to train in if I want to stay here after a week." Naruto said to himself as he dug into the scroll in front of him.

-(Konoha)-

The graduating class of shinobi were restless in the classroom. Everyone was talking about the events of the previous night. "Are you sure about that Shikamaru?" Chouji asked munching on some chips. "I mean, Naruto was a loner, he could have been fooling us all."

"I'm pretty sure about it." Shikamaru replied not lifting his head off of the desk. "All the times he has been around us he never showed signs of this in his personality." He finally sat up and slouched in his chair. "Like I told my father, something just doesn't add up about this whole situation and he agrees."

"So your dad isn't the only one asking questions about this." Chouji said. Shikamaru looked at him curiously. "I overheard my mom and dad talking last night after he got back from the council meeting. He told her flat out that he wasn't buying what the Hokage was selling." A girl with blonde hair let out a grunt of dissatisfaction as she took a seat next to Shikamaru.

"Stupid billboard brow getting Sasuke-kun on her team." She said.

"I still don't get why you're so obsessed with that guy." Chouji told her. "He has shown no interest in any of you girls." Ino frowned at the boy.

"It's about the principle." She replied. Shikamaru rose an eyebrow at her. "Sakura wants him, so she can't have him."

"Wait, so this is just a petty issue where you don't want her to have him?" Shikamaru asked.

"Duh you lazy-ass." Ino said. "When I was younger sure, I thought he was dreamy and awesome. Now that we are older, I'm not stupid. He isn't ever going to go after one of us girls from class. I have just been having fun causing her hell."

"I'll never understand you troublesome women." Shikamaru said as he put his head back on the table.

"It sucks that Naruto decided to go all psycho and leave the village." Ino said. "He may have been a pain in the ass, but he was always so nice and genuine. He was even kind of cute." Chouji started choking on his chips at the statement.

"Just like I said, women are troublesome." Ino's eyebrow ticked and she punched Shikamaru in the back of the head.

"I can't believe I have to be on a team with a lazy-ass and a tubby-ass." She scowled at the two. The door to the classroom opened and a group of people walked in. One by one they addressed the class and took their teams with them. A bearded man smoking a cigarette stepped forward.

"Team Ten, you're with me." Shikamaru and the other two got up and followed the man out of the classroom. They followed him in silence until they reached a barbeque restaurant. As they took a seat their new teacher finally addressed them after they placed their orders. "My name is Sarutobi Asuma, and I'm going to be your instructor until you reach the rank of Chuunin. Let me be straight up with you all; there is typically a test I'm supposed to give you all to see if you are truly ready to be genin. Normally I would say I'm too lazy to give you the test and just pass you; I'm going to pass you today but not for that reason. I have been instructed by the Hokage to pass you no matter what and train you for a specific future mission."

"What is that mission Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked.

"We are going to be in charge of bringing the traitor, Uzumaki Naruto, back to the village for his crimes. Your families backgrounds and techniques are perfect for this mission." Asuma told them. "While this mean that I can't be lazy and actually have to put in a lot of effort with you all, this is an enormous task we have been given. With it, the rewards will be vast once we complete it." Shikamaru studied his teacher as he told them this.

"Why is it that we are being tasked with this?" Shikamaru asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to send our fathers after him?"

"They are more skilled than you all in your clan techniques, that is true." Asuma replied. "They don't know the boys tendencies or personalities like you do." Asuma opened a scroll and unsealed a file folder from it. "Our records show that you and Chouji both formed a friendship with him while in the academy. And our observer in the academy saw that even though he was very much focused on Haruno Sakura; he was caught showing a very small interest in Ino." The blonde girl blushed slightly.

"Yeah we became friends with him in school." Chouji said. "I still don't see how that is going to help us catch him. Everyone in our class knows how Naruto is."

"Yes, but they aren't friends with him like you two." Their food arrived at that time and Shikamaru was surprised to see Chouji didn't immediately dive in. "While everyone else shunned and mocked him, you two were there for him. We can use that to catch him. He won't think that his only two friends would be out to grab him."

"So we play on his emotions?" Shikamaru asked. Asuma nodded his head. Shikamaru frowned on the inside.

"That's correct. It's the best shot we have as it appears he has evaded our ANBU and hunter-nin so far. We need to trick him with friendly faces." He pulled out a pocket-watch and looked at it. "Sorry to be so brief in our meeting, I have to see the Hokage and tell him you all are on board. Tomorrow we start training at 7 a.m. in training ground ten. Don't be late." The man left the group there in silence.

"Well damn." Ino said. "No pressure on us or anything. It's still weird that they chose us to do this." Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows as his two teammates started to finally eat their food.

"What's wrong Shika?" Chouji asked between bites.

"I'm not sure." He replied. "Troublesome heritage making me question everything." He said to himself as he started to eat his food.

-(With Naruto)-

The two hours passed terribly slow for Naruto. The first aid information just wasn't interesting to him. Haku came back in carrying a decent sized box.

"Time to see what you learned." Haku said as he set the box down on the table. He opened it and lifted a limp creature from it. "I found this little guy in a hunter's trap. Unfortunately I wasn't able to prevent him from succumbing to its wounds. But the injuries it did sustain will be a good test for what you learned in the scroll." Haku laid it on the table and Naruto noticed it was a fox. Naruto walked over to the table and started looking at it.

"I don't remember seeing these injuries in the scroll I read." Naruto turned around to the other clone. "Hey, dispel yourself." The clone gave Naruto a middle finger and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Stupid clone." Naruto processed the information he gained from the clone and looked over the fox again. He ran his hands over its body and frowned as he came to certain areas. "It appears that his right, hind leg is broken; he has a couple dislocated ribs on the right side; and a laceration on his left side. The break doesn't appear to be too serious so we will need to put a splint on his leg just to keep it from getting worse. We will also have to carefully put the ribs back into place so that we don't end up puncturing any organs. As for the laceration, we will have to shave the fur around the wound, apply something to prevent infection but promote healing, and bandage it." Haku nodded his head in approval.

"There is some first-aid stuff over by the food supplies." Naruto dug through the supplies and came back with what he needed. He put the splint around the foxes leg and gently put pressure on the ribs until he felt them pop back into place. He pulled out a kunai that he used to gently shave the fur away from the laceration. Once he was done he bandaged its waist.

"The bandage would have enough pressure on it to keep the ribs from popping back out while they heal a bit." Naruto said. "It's a shame you weren't able to save the little guy. I always wanted a pet." Naruto's eye twitched. "Looks like Zabuza is done training the clones; he wants me to go outside."

"Don't worry Naruto, I will properly dispose of the fox." Naruto nodded his head and left the cave. Once Naruto was gone the fox turned into an exact copy of Haku before shattering into ice.

"Alright Zabuza, what are we learning now?" Naruto asked as he arrived outside. Zabuza turned to Naruto as the last clone disappeared.

"We are going to do a little spar." Naruto's face paled. "It's not going to be like the one we did earlier, I'm actually going to try to help you learn and apply what I taught your clones. So we are going to go half your speed and I will critique you during it." Naruto took the stance that he remembered from his clones. The next twenty minutes were slow and methodical for Naruto. Every now and then they would stop and Zabuza would give advice, "You're over extending your punch." A couple more moves, "Instead of blocking, you should dodge. That would give you an opportunity to counter." The slight spar continued with many more corrections before Zabuza stopped. "Not bad runt." He told him. "Let's go eat some food." The two walked into the cave where Haku had laid out a their dinner. "What do we got today Haku?"

"Well, I cooked the rest of the stuff that Naruto's clones brought back." Haku replied placing the last plate on the table. "I chopped up some of the venison and mixed it up with some potatoes and onions. I also cooked up some of our stock supply of rice and heated up some of the bread we have.."

"Good as usual Haku." Zabuza said taking a bite of his food.

"Seriously, I think this is some of the best food I have ever had." Naruto said. "It's not ramen, but it is still amazing."

"Thank you Zabuza-san, thank you as well Naruto." Haku replied sitting down and eating as well. Naruto looked at Haku curiously.

"Okay, there is something I have been trying to figure out since I got here." Naruto said. The two looked at Naruto. "Are you a boy or a girl?" Zabuza burst out laughing and Haku choked on his food. Haku took a minute or two to compose himself.

"I'm a boy Naruto."

"Well, why do you dress up like a girl? I mean, it's pretty strange for a boy to be wearing a dress." Zabuza almost fell out of his chair laughing when it looked like Haku was going to blow a blood vessel.

"I'll have you know that this is a battle kimono." He replied. "Many men wear them during battle to show their standing." Haku narrowed his eyes curiously at the boy.

"How the heck do you fight in that thing? I would think that your legs would get tangled up in the dress." Haku lunged across the table but was pulled back by a chuckling Zabuza.

"You set a new record kid." Zabuza said. "It only took you forty-five seconds to set Haku off. If I wasn't training you, right now you would probably be singing soprano. I will vouch for him though; he may only be your age, but he is almost as strong as me on a bad day." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wow, do you think I can be that strong soon?" Naruto asked. Haku sat down and started picking at his food.

"Maybe, if you take your training seriously anything is possible." Zabuza replied eating some more of his food. "Embrace the tools you have at your disposal and you could become one of the most powerful shinobi out there." Naruto looked at his food and took a bite.

"Let's increase the load tomorrow." Naruto told Zabuza. The man smiled at Naruto.

"I was hoping you would say that. You realize that means it's going to get harder right?" Naruto nodded his head. "Alright than, we will increase all of your weights by nine kilograms and add one hundred reps to each exercise." Naruto froze at that. "The five minute spar before lunch, will be a ten minute survival exercise." Naruto gulped. "Each day this week the weights, the reps, and the time limit will increase." It was Haku's turn to laugh as Naruto's head hit the table. "It's going to be a fun week for me. On Sunday I will decide if I'm going to continue training you." Naruto sat up and shoveled his food down.

"I better get some rest; I have a rough week ahead of me." Naruto got up and went to the mat he was using. He looked over at his bloody and dirty jumpsuit jacket. "This is going to be the most important week of my life." He was asleep as soon as his head hit the mat.

"Let's see how motivated he really is." Zabuza said as he slowly finished his meal.

"It's going to be an entertaining week that's for sure." Haku told him. "The brothers should be back by then shouldn't they?"

"You never know with those two idiots. I just hope they didn't stop at Tanzaku and gamble away all the bounty money." Zabuza replied.

The following week was the single most painful and tiring week Naruto has ever been through. His muscles were screaming at him by the end of the day, he had bruises that gradually took longer to heal, and his mind was spent. He will also remember that week as the most beneficial experience he had with training. Thanks to the Kyuubi he had greatly improved. He was stronger, faster, his chakra control had vastly improved, and he gained knowledge about strategy as well. Sunday finally rolled around and Naruto stood before Zabuza and Haku. "I'm actually impressed kid." Zabuza said. "Not once did you complain, not once did you turn from one of the tasks I issued you, and you completed them all as well."

"Does that mean you're going to continue training me?" Naruto asked hopefully. Zabuza made to speak but he was interrupted.

"Oi, who's the runt?" A voice called from the trees. The group looked over and two identically dressed men walked into the area.

"Took you two long enough to return." Zabuza said. "Gozu, Meizu, this is Naruto." He introduced them. "These two idiots are the final members of my merry group." He told Naruto. "Are you two all rested up?" Meizu pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Zabuza.

"Six bounties collected in a week. Albeit they were all genin or low skill chuunin; that's a new record for us." He told Zabuza. "We crashed in Tanzaku over the night so yeah, we are all rested up."

"Good, you two will fight Naruto here in a spar."

"Why us?" Gozu asked.

"Because I said so." Zabuza told them. "Take this seriously Naruto, this is going to decide whether you get to keep being trained by me." Naruto nodded as the two men took spots across from him while Zabuza and Haku distanced themselves. Zabuza raised his hand in the air and looked at Naruto, "Ready?" Naruto nodded at Zabuza. Zabuza looked at the brothers, "You two ready?"

"Aye aye captain!" Meizu said.

"This runt's going down." Gozu replied.

"Go!" Zabuza shouted bringing his hand down.

A/N: It took much longer than I was expecting it, but with an 11 day work week those last 2-3 pages didn't want to get done. And there is the first official chapter. Personality wise Naruto isn't where I want him yet, but it will come soon. He will be very dark once the story gets going a little more, and if you haven't noticed he will be pretty OP in this story. I am trying to kind of show what Naruto having left the village would affect the people he went to the academy with. If you enjoyed it leave a review! If not, give me some constructive criticism. Thank you!


	3. Grooming the Plant

Sinful Tendencies

Chapter 2: Grooming the Plant

Meizu rushed Naruto with Gozu trailing behind. Meizu threw a right hook and Naruto's eyes widened as a barbed chain shot out of the gauntlet towards him. Naruto slid across the ground under the chain and popped up driving his knee into Meizu's chin. Before he could land another strike he was sent backwards from a straight left by Gozu. Naruto came to a rolling stop and came up on his feet.

"Oi, cant believe you let a runt get you like that." Gozu told his brother. Meizu rubbed his chin.

"Son of a bitch is faster and stronger than I expected." He replied. He recalled his chain and handed Gozu the other end. Gozu snapped it onto the gauntlet on his left hand. The two took off towards Naruto and banked away from eachother extending the chain. Naruto did a Kawarimi as the wrapped him in the chain and pulled it tight. Their smirks of satisfaction disappeared when they saw pieces of log hit the ground. Gozu was sent skipping across the ground from a kick to the temple while Meizu was suplexed from behind. Gozu got to his feet and reeled the chain in pulling his brother to him as a foot slammed into the ground where Meizu's head previously was. He helped his brother to his feet and the two looked and saw three Naruto's standing across from them.

"Thought I had you there." one of the Naruto's said.

"You think three of you is going to make this any difference?" Meizu asked. "It will take an army of you to take us down." The three Naruto's smirked as people started walking into the area from the trees. The brothers eyes widened as they were all of a sudden surrounded by over one hundred Naruto's.

"You just had to say shit didn't you?" Gozu asked. The Naruto's all yelled in unison as they rushed the brothers. Zabuza watched on humorously as the fight deteriated into a giant brawl. All semblance of strategy disappeared as punches, kicks, and weapons were thrown haphazardly. A couple of times Zabuza and Haku had to dodge or block a stray weapon that came out of the melee. This continued for a couple minutes until the brothers and the real Naruto were all that was left. "You're...in...for...it...now." Gozu wheezed out.

"Ha, says...you." Naruto replied. The three were cut and bruised all over from the fight.

"Alright that's enough." Zabuza said stopping the three from lunging at eachother. The three looked over at the man, "Gozu, Meizu; why dont you two go get some rest." The two breathed a sigh of relief as Meizu recalled the chain.

"Kid's a fucking beast." Meizu said to his brother as they walked away. Naruto fell onto his butt dead tired.

"Normally I would send you on your way now because of how that fight went." Zabuza held up a hand to silence Naruto before he could protest. "However, you did use strategy effectively in the beginning and held your own against two veteran chuunin; so I'm not to surprised the fight turned out like that. With that being said," Zabuza walked over to Naruto and helped him up. "Welcome to our little group." Naruto smiled in satisfaction. "We will train four days a week taking Wednesday and the weekend off. On Saturdays you will spar either myself, Haku, or the brothers again. Now than," Zabuza said rubbing his hands together. "I have held up my end of the bargain; it's your turn." Naruto looked confused for a brief second before he realized what Zabuza meant.

"Right," he replied unsealing the scroll from his hand. He sat down on the ground and unrolled it. "So the scroll has a bunch of forbidden jutsu, and it's also seperated by rank and element. It has fuinjutsu and medic jutsu as well." The last one caught Haku's attention.

"Let me see what S-rank Suiton jutsu you have." Zabuza told him. Naruto unsealed the S-rank jutsu and twenty scrolls popped out. Zabuza looked through them and picked one out."Kurāken no kurasshu, that's a jutsu that hasnt been seen in a long time." He opened the scroll and looked over it giving out a slight whistle. "No wonder this is S-rank." He rolled it up and slid it into his pocket. "How long was it you wanted to be trained by me?" Zabuza asked Naruto.

"Well, I was hoping that you would train me as long as you have something to teach me." He replied. Zabuza thought for a while.

"Alright I got it. I will train you in three month intervals." He told the boy. "At the end of the three month time span we will see where you are at and what I can teach you next. At any time during your training you will be allowed to leave our group. Should you decide to do that though, you will no longer receive any training from myself."

"I understand." Naruto said. "But there is one part of our deal you haven't completed yet."

"What would that be?"

"You were going to tell me why you aren't part of a village."

"Fair enough." Zabuza replied. He walked over to the table and took a seat with Naruto taking the seat across from him. "Incase you can't tell from my headband here," Zabuza pointed at his turned headband. "I used to be a member of Kirigakure. When I was in the academy Kiri had a practice of pitting the graduating students against eachother in a death match. It was their way of ensuring the strongest graduated and there weren't any genin who weren't worthy. When I was in my second year of the academy I killed the entire graduating class of over one hundred students. This got me an early graduation and my nickname, the Demon of the Bloody Mist. I quickly rose through the ranks until I was given the opportunity to show my abilities for a special group. I passed and became a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, we were a group of the best shinobi swordsmen in the nations. We were the elite of the elite in the village and only the Mizukage was ranked above us. The report you will widely hear about me is that myself, the demon brothers, and a select few other people attempted a coup against the Mizukage, and when that failed we escaped the village and have been on the run since."

"I take it that's not true?"

"Parts of it are true. I did try to kill the Mizukage, but not because I wanted to over throw him. I tried to kill him because he came after me and I was defending myself." Zabuza said. "The part of the story you wont hear from Kiri, is that the Mizukage was bat-shit crazy. A short time prior to this event, another member name Kisame killed the leader of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist for giving away village secrets. After he did so he left the village. Now, the Mizukage being a paranoid freak decided that the Seven Swordsman could no longer be trusted; so he came after us. Myself, Kurosuki Raiga, and Kisame are the only swordsman from our generation that are alive. Since that day I have made it a goal of mine to see the current Mizukage burn."

"So you also know what it's like to be betrayed by your village." Naruto said. Zabuza merely nodded his head. Naruto sat there in thought for a while. "If you ever decide to go back to Kiri, I would like to assist you."

"Why is that runt?"

"Well, you have been kind enough to help me with my village betraying me; I figure I would like to repay the favor." Zabuza smirked underneath his bandages.

"Thanks kid, I'm still a ways off from being strong enough to take on the Mizukage. Maybe the techniques in your scroll will help though." Zabuza told him.

"So what do I do now?" Naruto asked.

"Whatever you want to." Zabuza replied. "Relax, train on your own if you want, it doesnt matter to me. You have the rest of the day off from me."

"I guess I'll keep reading one of the strategy books." Naruto said. He went and sat down under a tree pulling out one of the books he read earlier in the week.

"I noticed you didnt mention your encounter with me in your story." Haku said from behind the man.

"That's not important to the reason I left." Zabuza replied as he rolled the jutsu scroll open and started studying it. "That's more important to your history anyways; that's for you to tell him when you're ready." Zabuza furrowed his eyebrows together looking at the scroll. "I'm going to need your help with understanding this technique Haku." Haku smiled at the man and took a seat next to him reading the scroll.

-(Konoha)-

Shikamaru groaned as he sat down at his kitchen table. "Boy, you look like hell son." Shikaku said.

"Asuma-sensei has been working us to the bone this week." Shikamaru replied. "He got tasked with getting us ready to capture Naruto." Shikamaru put his head on the table. "I have never been this sore in my entire life." Shikaku chuckled at his son.

"I remember the joys of having a Jounin instructor." He said taking a drink of some coffee. "So what kind of things is he training you in to go after Naruto?"

"Right now, just a whole lot of conditioning, chakra exercises, and sparring. That reminds me," Shikamaru handed a piece of paper to his father. "this is an official order from the Hokage to step up my clan training."

"Son of a bitch." Shikaku said reading the paper. "Just when I was starting to enjoy my weekends. Get a little bit of rest Shikamaru, we are going to start training this afternoon." He finished his coffee and stood up from the table.

"Where are you going dear?" His wife asked walking into the room.

"I am meeting up with Inoichi and Chouza for a while. Once I get back me and Shikamaru here have some training to do."

"Have fun, tell those two hello for me. We need to get our families together for another barbeque some time."

"You got it honey." Shikaku gave his wife a kiss good-bye and walked out the door. He walked into the heart of the restaurant district and arrived at a restaurant called The Big Boned Club. He walked inside and the host greeted him.

"Shikaku-san, welcome back! Chouza-sama is waiting for you in his office with Inoichi-san." He nodded in acknowledgement and walked through the restaurant to the back. He knocked on a large steel door and an enormous man opened it.

"Shikaku!" He bellowed out. "Welcome my friend! Inoichi and myself were just about to open up the good sake without you! Come in, come in." Chouza ushered his friend into the room where Inoichi was sitting on a couch by a table. On the table sat three cups and a jug of sake. Shikaku took a seat in a chair next to the table and Inoichi opened the sake pouring it into the glasses.

"How have things been since the Hokage's announcement concerning Naruto?" Inoichi asked.

"Nothing has really changed. I still go over political documents, treaties, and still decide what Jounin the high level missions go to." Shikaku replied drinking his glass. "But I must admit, my work hasn't been its best the past couple of days."

"Why not?" Chouza asked taking a seat on the couch next to Inoichi.

"The whole thing with Natuto leaving the village is distracting me." Shikaku replied.

"What about it exactly is distracting you?" Inoichi asked refilling the man's glass. "I mean, the kid betrayed the village by killing two chuunin and stealing the scroll."

"I don't know, a lot of the facts don't make a whole lot of sense to me."

"What facts are you talking about friend?" Chouza asked downing his glass. Shikaku signaled to the door and Chouza nodded his head. He activated a seal on the wall besides himself and the lights dimmed.

"Most of the facts involving it actually. First off, the fact that Naruto was able to steal the scroll. The Forbidden Scroll of Sealing is located in the Hokage's vault in the tower. It's a vault that only the Hokage himself can open, and not only that it is under constant surveillance 24/7 by three ANBU. So Naruto would have needed to have figured out a way to bypass multiple seals that respond to one individual while also doing so while ANBU were there." Shikaku replied sipping on his sake. "Second, I have read the reports on Naruto from the academy. There is no way that he would have been able to have taken out two Chuunin at the same time."

"What if he was being influenced by the Kyuubi this whole time and he was pretending to be a terrible ninja?" Inoichi asked.

"I thought about that question." Shikaku said pulling out a scroll. He opened the scroll and pulled out a file handing it to Inoichi. He gave him a moment to look at the information and then he handed it to Chouza. "The only thing in the village under tighter watch than the Scroll was Naruto. The Hokage had bugs in Naruto's apartment, all the places that he frequented, and he was under the watch of over a dozen ANBU at all times. Hell, the father and daughter that owned the ramen stand were both ANBU members."

"That explains why they inexplicably closed down after Naruto left." Chouza replied placing the file down. "Shame to, they made some damn good ramen."

"Every report that they gave to the Hokage indicated the same thing; Naruto was a terrible shinobi. Downright piss-poor as some of them stated."

"Why go through so much effort to watch one boy?" Inoichi asked. "Was it all because of the Kyuubi?"

"I believe so." Shikaku said. "Either the Hokage wanted to see in there was a risk of the Kyuubi influencing him or if he was going to be a good shinobi." Shikaku unsealed another file. "This is a report that Jiraiya turned into the Hokage about three months ago. It states that over the course of Naruto's life the seal containing the Kyuubi has never showed signs of deterioration. So there is no way the Kyuubi was influencing Naruto." Inoichi put the files down and slowly took a drink from the glass. "There is one more fact as well. Why were our children chosen to capture Naruto?"

"Because of their familiarity with the boy." Chouza said. "A friendly face would cause him to let his guard down so that they could capture him."

"If Naruto betrayed the village; why would a friendly face affect him?" Shikaku asked. "Iruka is dead, reportedly by Naruto's hand. The man was like an older brother to him and Naruto killed him. If he would kill someone who had a relationship like that with him, then friends would mean nothing to him. Plus, no offense to our children, they are the wrong team to be sending on a mission like this."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Inoichi snapped.

"Kakashi's team is much more suited to bring in Naruto." Shikaku replied finishing his drink. "If we are acting under the assumption that Naruto is under the influence of the Kyuubi; then he needs to be taken down by a team made for assault; not infiltration and interrogation. Sasuke is arguably the best prospect to come out of the academy since his brother. Add in the fact that Sai is enlisted in Danzou's Ne forces, the two are a very formidable force."

"What of the girl?" Chouza asked.

"The Haruno? Her file is nothing stellar, exceptional chakra control and very good at chakra theory; but no physical attributes to speak of. With Kakashi as their teacher though, that could easily be remedied. They were literally built to take down exceptional forces, which I believe that Naruto qualifies as." The group of men sat in silence as Inoichi and Chouza digested the information. Inoichi let out a deep sigh.

"As much as I wish you were wrong; in all the years I have known you, you have never been wrong when you have a hunch." Inoichi said. Chouza set his glass on the table and rested his head on his hands.

"Where do we go from here?" He asked.

"We keep playing the charade." Shikaku replied. He pulled out the piece of paper his son gave him. "We have been instructed to advance the teachings of our children in our clan arts. We will do so, and anything else the Hokage asks as usual. As Inoichi and myself have leads into classified information with our positions, I say we do some slight investigation. Nothing to draw attention to ourselves, but we are trying to find out the truth."

"What about me?" Chouza demanded. "I don't want to just sit on the sidelines." Shikaku smirked at the man.

"I'm afraid you will have to old friend. This isn't a situation we can just barrel and bulldoze our way through. This requires subtlety and precision, both things you aren't too well versed in." Shikaku stood up from the table as did his friends. "During our monthly get togethers we will go over what information we were able to gather."

"Sounds like a good plan." Inoichi said as the three walked to the door. Inoichi and Shikaku said good-bye to Chouza and left the restaurant together. "This little mission of ours has me a little worried." The two stopped at an intersection.

"I understand your concern, for whatever reason the Hokage isn't being truthful about the situation. We need to be very careful now. It will be like walking on glass. If you feel you're going to get caught or at risk of endangering yourself, get out." Inoichi nodded his head. "Go carefully friend." The two shook hands and went their separate ways.

-(Naruto-Two Weeks Later)-

Naruto dove out of the way as a shower of needles dug into the ground where he just was. He looked up in time to see a kunai strike him right between the eyes. Instead of falling to the ground he was surrounded by smoke and a log hit the ground in his place. "Good move." His opponent said. He scanned the area before his senses told him to duck. He did so as a leg went swinging over his head. His recovery was halted as a sweeping kick took him off of his feet. He was sent bouncing across the dirt as a third kick landed square in his chest. He rolled to a stop and slowly got up. He looked over to Naruto and saw three standing there. "Which one of you is the real one?" He started to do some hand seals before he was wrapped up from behind and a kunai was placed against his throat.

"None of them." Came the voice from behind. "Looks like I win this one Haku." Haku smirked as they were surrounded by mirrors of ice. Naruto looked in confusion as Haku melted into water and he appeared in all the mirrors.

"Much better Naruto." He said. "You are still a ways away from defeating me though." Naruto sighed as he put his hands up in surrender. The mirrors melted and Haku approached him with a smirk.

"I thought that I had you this time."

"You are getting much better. Your coordination with your clones is exceptional, but I fear you may rely on them too much." Haku told him. "I think you might want to start expanding your library of jutsu. That will help you get stronger and it can give you an ace up your sleeve against opponents." Naruto nodded his head as three people arrived in the area.

"How did the brat do today?" Zabuza asked.

"He did a lot better than when he first sparred the Demon Brothers, and anything other than what you did to him last week is an improvement." Naruto crossed his arms and pouted.

"I still think that Zabuza was just having a bad day so his 'spontaneous' sparring session was just an excuse to beat the stress out. I almost wish I didn't heal so fast, that way he wouldn't choose me for that." Naruto said. The Demon Brothers chuckled as Zabuza shrugged his shoulders. He pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Naruto. "What's this?"

"Your first task to show you're not a complete idiot." Naruto glared at the man as he opened the scroll. "This scroll contains information on the missing-nin known as Yoi Sutata. He is a low-Chuunin ranked shinobi out of Shimogakure. The latest information has him in hiding in the city of Tanzaku. Your job is to capture him and collect the bounty. You can either kill him and turn it in, or turn him in alive; with this bounty it doesn't matter as they are identical. The Demon Brothers will tag along with you to see how well you do. If you fail this test, our training is over. You may want to spend the rest of the day resting and perhaps planning out your course of action. You are to leave tomorrow." Naruto took the scroll and sat down at the table pouring over the information.

"Do you really think that he is ready for this?" Haku asked.

"He was almost able to defeat the Brothers after very little training. I have only been training him for two weeks, but we have been refining everything that he knows already." Zabuza replied. "He is definitely ready for this."

"It's a little bounty of five hundred thousand ryou." The Gozu said. "Remember, we are bringing in bounties twice that price every time we go out."

"Yeah, the kid's got this." Meizu chimed in. "Plus, if anything goes wrong he has the amazing Demon Brother's to back him up."

"Alright, you guys know what your task is." Zabuza told them. "Ensure that you leave tomorrow at a proper time and make sure all of your things are packed up to move." The two men nodded at him and Zabuza looked at Haku. "Pack up all of our things to leave tonight."

"Where are we going?" Haku asked. Zabuza handed him a piece of paper.

"There is a job opportunity paying two million ryou a week. We are going to go see who it's for and what it will entail."

"Where is it at?"

"It's located in Nami no Kuni." Zabuza replied walking off. Haku sighed as he went into the cave to start packing up. Meizu wandered off into the forest leaving Gozu standing in the area alone. He shrugged his shoulders and sat down across from Naruto at the table.

"What's up?" Naruto asked not looking up from the scroll.

"I figured I would see if you need any help or advice with preparing for this." Gozu told him. Naruto looked up surprised. "Look, you are part of this group now. And I know Zabuza won't say it, but we look out for each other here. He is gruff and if push comes to shove, everyone is expendable. That's why he wants us all to pull our own weight and get stronger."

"So what advice would you have for me?" Naruto asked after sitting in silence for a couple seconds.

"First off, what does it say about the area that he is hiding out in?"

"It doesn't say too much. It says that Sutata is hiding out in the medium rate district of Tanzaku. Summer is the busiest time of year in Tanzaku as people from all over the world visit to gamble their money away."

"That's plenty of information." Naruto looked at the man confusedly. "Sutata is actually pretty smart by picking Tanzaku to hide in. He is a relatively new missing-nin, like yourself. He didn't isolate himself from the world and go into hiding though. What he is doing is hiding in plain sight. He picked the busiest city during the busiest time of the year. He can still go out in the open by staying in the crowds. And no one is going to remember a random person at any given time. You following me?" Gozu asked as he pulled the scroll to himself. He scanned over the location information. "I'm surprised this even lists the inn he is staying at. If they know his exact location, that means he is getting sloppy. The places he even goes to frequently are listed. Do you know how to watch people without looking at them?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's keeping an eye on someone without drawing attention to yourself. That means you can't actually watch them. You have to watch the surrounding around them and use your peripherals."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed. "I can do that. I got real good at doing that when I was in Konoha and had to worry about villagers attacking me. They would act nice but then try something when I wasn't looking or paying attention. So I learned to always be aware of what's around me."

"Good, that's the best technique for bounty hunters to know to use. With your Kage Bunshin you are the perfect bounty hunter to. You can send a clone to every one of these locations while you watch the inn yourself."

"That is actually a really good idea." Gozu stood up from the table.

"As far as advice goes, that's all I can really give you. You have to learn the rest and all that on your own." He told the boy. "Tonight before you sleep I recommend you packing up all of your stuff. After we are done with getting Sutata we are meeting up with Zabuza and Haku. Hopefully they will have some work for us." Naruto nodded his head. He started going over all the information in the scroll again as Gozu walked away and he didn't get up from the table until it was time to sleep. Gozu and Meizu woke Naruto up and the sky was still dark.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"Two in the morning." Meizu told him. "It will take four hours of travel to get to Tanzaku. The sooner we get there the better, you may want to hurry and clean up." Naruto rolled off of his cot and stood up cracking his back. He made two clones and had them start packing all of his stuff up while he hurried outside to the small stream by their camp. He bathed quickly in the cold water and got dressed. He looked down disdainfully at his clothes. His orange jumpsuit was in terrible shape with being covered in cuts, dirt, and blood. He arrived back at the camp and dispelled his clones as he picked up the scroll they sealed everything into. He followed the two men out of the cave and they took to the trees in silence. The four hour journey was made with no complications and they arrived in Tanzaku as the stores and restaurants started to open up.

"Alright Naruto, you're on your own now." Gozu said. "Do whatever you think you need to do in order to capture Sutata. We will be watching you from a distance and won't provide help unless it's absolutely necessary."

"You got it." Naruto replied. The two men walked away from Naruto leaving him standing there alone. He looked around and started walking through the streets. It was early but there was a large number of people walking through the city. His eyes kept darting through the crowds as he kept his eyes open for his target. He slowed and eventually stopped in front of a store. "J+B Survival Outfitters?" He walked inside and saw a multitude of different items. There was cooking equipment, tents, cots, everything you would need for a camping expedition. He walked through the aisles looking at all the things they had. He arrived in an area that was all clothing. He looked down at his clothing and sighed as he started looking through all the items. He selected a few pairs of pants and matching shirts before walking over to the footwear section. He looked through the shoes before a pair of boots caught his eyes. He picked them up and took everything over to the counter.

"That will be twenty thousand ryou." The man behind the counter told him. Naruto unsealed his wallet from his storage scroll and pulled out the allotted money. As the man was finishing the transaction Naruto looked at his left-over money and found he was almost out. The man handed him the bags of clothes and a receipt.

"Would you happen to have a dressing room I can change in?" Naruto asked. The man pointed him to a room off to the side and Naruto walked to it. Once inside he removed his old clothing and put on his new purchases. He had settled on a loose pair of black cargo pants and a long-sleeve red shirt made of thin, breathable material. He laced up his new boots and found they were very comfortable and didn't make much noise when he walked in them. He sealed the rest of his clothes into the scroll and left the store. "Alright, I need to scout of the locations in the scroll a bit." Naruto told himself as he started down the streets again. It was ten o clock by the time he finished getting a brief lay-out of the areas that Sutata liked to frequent. Naruto ducked into an alley and make six clones. "Alright, I want you guys to Henge into different people." The clones did as instructed and transformed into different people. "Clone 1, you are to go to the Golden Mirage and find a good place to watch for him. Keep an eye out for anyone acting suspicious." A black haired clone wearing nodded his head. "Clone 2, I want you to station yourself outside of the Swollen Puffer and watch everyone that walks in and out of the restaurant. Clone 3, you're location to scout is the Staggering Imp. Clones 4, 5, and 6; you all are to scout around the carnival area. Watch these locations until you see someone that matches his description. Once you see him I want you to wait until he leaves and then dispel an hour later. Keep an eye open to anyone who may be following him."

"Where are you going to go boss?" The black haired clone asked.

"I'm going to hang around the inn he is staying at and try to watch his patterns. Everyone has their locations, so roll out." The six clones each walked out of different ends of the alley and Naruto followed a couple minutes later. He put his hands in his pockets and walked until he was across the street from the Sleepy Ninja. "Wow, draw attention to the fact you're a shinobi with a place like this." Naruto said to himself. He walked around the area briefly and got an idea of all the entrances and exits. He browsed through a stand that sold various books, magazines, and newspapers. Picking up a thick black book he was surprised that it said 'Bingo Book' right across the front. "What is this book about?" Naruto asked the vendor playing dumb.

"It's a book that contains information about all the missing-nin across the nation. This version even contains criminals with large bounties on their head." The man said.

"Wow, they make this information just open to the public?"

"They have just started doing that within the last year or so. They figure that if the public can buy a book they will keep their eyes open for the criminals. If you spot one of the people in this book and you tell an attendant at a bounty station they will compensate you once the person is captured."

"That's awesome." Naruto said pulling out his wallet. "I'll take it. Maybe I can get lucky and earn some money." Naruto gave the man the money and sat on a bench opening up the book while also keeping an eye on the front of the inn. The shinobi were classified by the rank of the bounty from 'D' all the way to 'SSS'. He scanned through the D rank and saw that most of them were Genin with small bounties. The 'C' rank bounties were high-Genin and low-Chuunin. Browsing through them he found the profile of Yoi Sutata. "Let's see, left the village because he was found guilty of raping a female genin. Strongest area is in taijutsu, weakest is genjutsu. Well that's no help to me, I'm terrible with genjutsu also. Here we go, known techniques; Fuuton: Geirufosu- C rank close range wind technique that strikes opponent with force hurting and pushing them away. Suiton: Gokkan no Shokku- C rank mid range water technique that hits the opponent with a spear of freezing cold water. Bounty currently sits at five hundred thousand ryou dead or alive. He doesn't know too many techniques, but he also could have picked up a couple since he left." Naruto kept browsing through the bounties and was surprised to find that shinobi who are currently part of a village were in the A-rank and higher bounties. He found the Demon Brothers under the B-rank bounties, Zabuza was in the S-rank bounties, and Haku was nowhere to be found in them. He then moved on to the criminal portion and still found no profile for Haku. Naruto did find his own profile under the C-rank criminal profiles.

"Uzumaki Naruto is guilty of killing two Chuunin rank shinobi and stealing a high profile artifact from the Hokage. Has little training in shinobi arts and no skills to speak of. Bounty currently sits at five hundred thousand ryou alive only. No bounty will be received for dead." The picture in the book was one he took the morning of the test. "Looks like I need to get a haircut." Naruto put the book into one of his pockets and pulled a scroll out of it. The scroll was titled, "Artifacts of Konoha." He opened it up and started reading it. He read the scroll for an hour before a person walking out of the inn caught his eye. "Bright green hair, scar down his right eye, standing at roughly five foot nine inches. Has a slight limp in his left leg from a training accident when he was a genin. That's Yoi Sutata alright." Naruto kept looking at the scroll and watched as the man walked past him down the street. He waited a minute before he rolled up the scroll and put it away following the man. He never noticed the white-eyes watching him as he walked out of the area. Naruto kept a decent distance between himself and Sutata as the man approached the Golden Mirage casino. Sutata walked into the casino and Naruto walked past it. He arrived at a small ramen stand across the street from it and sat down to eat. "I would like two miso and one pork ramen please." He told the girl who took his order.

"Uzumaki." A voice came from behind him. The boy froze in his chair and slowly turned around. A person with long black hair, white eyes, and wearing a khaki shirt and blue shorts.

"How may I help you?" Naruto managed to get out.

"I am here-by placing you under arrest for the murder of Umino Iruka and Hyōjun Mizuki. Come with me willingly to my team or I will take you by force." Naruto's eyes darted around the area looking for an escape. The man in front of him smirked. "You cannot escape here, fate has determined that you will be captured by me." Naruto locked eyes with him before he smirked himself.

"I escaped countless ANBU as I left that village of lies. But do tell me, what is the name of the amazing person that is my captor?" Naruto mocked. He placed his hands between his legs and made a seal.

"I am Hyuuga Neji. Genin of Konohagakure and member of Team 9." Neji replied.

"Well Neji, the only thing I'm guilty of is stealing a scroll and ensuring my survival. I had nothing to do with Mizuki or Iruka dying. Like you I believed all the lies that Konoha force fed us in the academy." Naruto said. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I have recently come into possession of documents from the village that speak the truth. Even truths about your clan." Neji narrowed his eyes at Naruto. "I can't go back to the village, they will kill me once they get the scroll back just because of what I know now. You almost had me though. Fate doesn't mean shit to me. Kage Bunshin!" The area was filled with smoke and dozens of Naruto's escaped the ramen stand. Neji coughed as he stumbled out of the small restaurant and took off down the road after a random Naruto. People came rushing out of the buildings surrounding to see the commotion. One of the people was Sutata who looked around and shrugged his shoulders before walking down the road. "Damnit." Naruto said to himself inside of an alley. "Now I don't know where he went because of Neji." He kicked a trashcan spilling its contents. "I guess I just have to wait for my clones to keep me in the loop." He did a quick Henge and was now a red haired ten year old boy. He proceeded to wander around the city between the locations that Sutata goes to. An hour later the clone at the casino dispelled giving Naruto the memories. "Looks like he was alone there." A couple more hours passed and two more memories arrived. "He was alone at the bar but he met up with a woman at the restaurant and they left together." Naruto wandered down the road towards the carnival and caught a glimpse of the man and woman walking into the area. He followed them while occasionally catching sight of his clones that were in the area. A couple hours passed before Sutata left the woman to go to the bathroom. Naruto followed him quickly while giving brief signals to his clones to surround the building. Sutata walked into a stall and Naruto undid his transformation silently while locking the door. The man whistled to himself as Naruto gulped and pulled out a kunai. Naruto kicked the stall door in to find it empty. His confusion disappeared as a fist crashed through the next wall into his cheek sending him across the floor. He rolled to a stop and quickly got to his feet in a fighting stance.

"What the hell do you want with me?" Sutata demanded.

"Your bounty is what I'm after." Sutata narrowed his eyes as he raced at the boy. His speed caught Naruto off guard and a knee crashed into his sternum. Naruto crumpled to the ground as Sutata unlocked the door and went to leave. The man was dodged backwards dodging a fist from one of Naruto's clones. Coming to a stop by a window he made to go on the offensive when two clones crashed through the glass tackling the man. The last clone moved quickly to help subdue the man while Naruto finished collecting himself. He made his way over to Sutata and picked his kunai up from the floor. "Sorry it has to be this way."

"Fuck you kid." Sutata said spiting at the boy. The clones moved the man into a kneeling position and Naruto positioned the kunai on one side of his neck. Naruto took a couple of deep breaths.

"Good-bye Yoi Sutata." Naruto said as he brought the kunai across the man's neck. The clones held him as he bled out and Naruto vomited into the trashcan he placed the kunai in.

"That's right, this is your first time taking someone's life." A voice said from the broken window. Naruto's head snapped to the side and he saw the Demon Brothers standing in the bathroom by the window. "The first is always the worst." Meizu said.

"After that, you get used to it." Gozu chimed in. "Good work by the way kid."

"Yeah not bad for your first bounty." Meizu handed Naruto a scroll. Naruto unrolled it and the clones placed Sutata's body on the scroll. Channeling his chakra, Naruto sealed the body in the scroll and rolled it up. "I also have to say, nice improvement on the clothing. That orange shit was hideous." Naruto frowned at the man as he put the scroll away and dispelled the clones.

"They didn't have anything orange." He said as he followed the two men out of the bathroom through the broken window. They walked around the building and there was a large group of people looking at it. "Shit." Naruto said ducking behind the two.

"What's wrong?" Meizu asked.

"You see that kid with the black hair and white eyes?"

"Yeah, what about him?" Gozu replied.

"He identified me earlier. He is from Konoha and wants to bring me in." The group walked past the crowd and Gozu pricked Neji on the arm with his gauntlet. The boy turned around and caught sight of Naruto. As he went to make after him he stumbled and fell to the ground. "What did you do to him?"

"I gave him a non-lethal dose of poison." Gozu said as they walked off. "It will take him off his feet for a couple hours; plenty of time for us to get away from the city." Naruto turned around and looked at Neji. The last thing Neji saw before losing consciousness was Naruto smirking and winking at the boy.

"So where are we meeting Zabuza and Haku?" Naruto asked once they got out of the city and took to the trees.

"There is a bounty station a couple hours south of us. We will turn in the bounty there and that's where Zabuza and Haku will meet us." Meizu said. The journey was once again uneventful and they landed in a small makeshift camp with three log buildings. The group walked towards a building that a man walked out of. His green eyes met with Naruto's as he walked past them. They walked inside where Gozu pushed Naruto to the counter where a large man was.

"Alright, who do ya got kid?" He asked him. Naruto pulled out the scroll and laid it on the counter.

"Yoi Sutata, Chuunin missing-nin from Shumogakure." Naruto replied. The man unrolled the scroll and unsealed the body. He inspected it for a couple minutes before resealing and rolling up the scroll. He walked through a door in the back with the scroll and came back out with another scroll.

"Here is the listed bounty of five hundred thousand ryou." He said handing Naruto the scroll. The three walked out of the bounty office and were greeted by the sight of Zabuza and Haku.

"So, how did the kid do?" Zabuza asked.

"He did well enough for his first bounty." Gozu said taking the scroll from Naruto and tossing it to Zabuza. "He used his clones to scout out the areas and had three of them provide support while he went to subdue Sutata."

"Unfortunately he rushed in at the end to capture him and so there was a very small scuffle. Nothing life threatening for him, but enough to draw attention." Meizu said. "If it was Gozu and myself after the target I would give us a failing grade. This being Naruto's first one though, I would give him a pass on it." Zabuza nodded his head and unrolled the scroll. He unsealed a portion of money and gave it to Naruto.

"The way our group works is that you get fifteen percent of the bounties that you collect. The rest goes into a collection for the group to use on supplies and boarding if we are in a town." He told Naruto.

"Thank-you." Naruto replied putting the money in his wallet. "I was running low on money as it was."

"So what's the deal with Nami?" Meizu asked.

"It looks promising." Zabuza replied. "We will be acting as bodyguards and his own personal enforcers. There is another group after the work so the employer said we have to pass a test to get the job."

"What is the group we are competing against?" Naruto asked this time.

"It's just a group of mercenaries. Nothing that will prove too much of a challenge to us."

"And the test?" Was Naruto's next question. Zabuza smiled underneath his bandages and Naruto shivered.

"You, my dear pupil, will be fighting against five of them in a battle to the death." Zabuza told him. "If you kill them all, we get the job. If you die, well than we don't get the work."

"No pressure kid." Gozu said slapping Naruto on the back.

"When is the fight?" Naruto asked.

"It's in two days time. If we leave right now we can get to Nami no Kuni by nightfall. That will give you an entire day to rest or whatever you wish to do before the fight. We leave now." Zabuza led the group out of the bounty station and they sped off through the trees to their next destination.

A/N: Yes another chapter! I do still live and I do still write. Not much action in the story yet, but that will all change once the Wave arc starts. Next chapter is a prologue to the next arc. This will be a dark Naruto story if anyone was wondering. He isn't dark yet, but that will change soon. Review if you enjoyed the chapter. Review if you didn't, but again, give constructive criticism. If I can get better at writing any advice will help, but don't just flame senselessly.


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